Foreword:

Ever wonder what God might have to say to YOU today? Here are things to ponder, and things to receive into your heart. If you have a question, put it in the comments. I respond as much as I can.

A note for all my readers: I've been experimenting with YouTube videos for Bible teaching, and now I'm working my way through the New Testament. I encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube channel for better coverage. I'm still writing, of course, and my written posts appear here.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Hard to believe, Part 3:

In the last post, I discussed the issue of how evil affects healing. This should be obvious to anyone who reads the Bible:
When Jesus was here on earth, He healed everyone who came to Him, and several times, when he came into contact with people who'd died, he raised those people from the dead (see John 11); demons cried out, and came out of the people who had suffered their invasions; people who were blind and lame were healed; folks with terrible skin diseases got well immediately; folks whose minds were broken (NOT the same as demonization) were instantly healed; folks with fevers, destructive bacterial or viral infections...it didn't matter. Disease was nearly eradicated from the areas in which Jesus ministered. Why? because HE had power over the powers of evil that rule our earth so effectively. In fact, Jesus confirms this thought in Luke chapter 10 when he says of the disciples' preaching and healing mission, "I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven..." (Luke 10:18)...

So what happened? Is the whole idea of Christian healing dead now? Did God somehow die in the centuries after Jesus' resurrection? NO. God does still heal people. However, the ministry of healing in the Western Christian world is exceedingly difficult to develop, due to several things--which I've learned the hard way:
1. It's a free service. The MINUTE you ask for money, or glory, or something for yourself, any "anointing" you may have had disappears immediately.
2. We Christians really don't believe in God in the same way the apostles did. THEY performed miracles of healing quite regularly. Their spiritual powers were not diminished, and they (as they tell us over and over again), were just men. The difference? They were men and women who were completely in tune with the Spirit, and who followed His dictates.
3. Continuing #2, most Christians have a very rationalistic worldview--which means that the world of the supernatural is relegated to the future and does not enter the present, except in times of crisis, if then. We are therefore not emotionally, intellectually and spiritually prepared to involve ourselves with the totality of the world, which includes the spiritual / supernatural world as well as the physical world. This is why Christians often laugh at such things as witchcraft and the like.
4. Jesus counseled us to "believe in God," and all things would be possible--yet even He experienced the restrictions imposed by the will of God, and He tells us so: "The Son can only do what He sees the Father doing..." (John 5:19-20). In other words, and very candidly, many of us can't do anything because we can't see what the Father is doing. It could be that the Son had visions of what the Father was doing, and so knew exactly what to do in each situation.
5. We bought the lie that medicine replaced miracle. It did not. I am definitely not opposed to doctors. I am writing this today because I can see, which is the result of cataract surgeries. I had to have those to see. So medicine could be in your future. However, you are not limited to medical intervention. God is your only limiting factor.
6. Sometimes we are just not willing to accept the will of God regarding our lives. He may desire for you to come home, and whatever you're experiencing could be the result of an unchallengeable decision on His part. However, I believe many people accept what they think is "the inevitable" when they really are not meant to do so.
7. Death is not really a problem for the Christian. Martin Luther said that to the Christian, death is like someone who brings out your horse, saddles it up for you, gets you seated on the saddle, and sends you off for the ride of your life. Much of our difficulty with the end of life is that we don't have a firm grasp on the future that is ours, and the home we have in heaven.

So...Are you sick today? need someone to pray for you?
Here's the counsel of a great New Testament writer:
(James 5:14 and following):
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Closing counsel: If you're going to do this, be sure you ask someone who believes that God acts in the present, and that He's not just a religious construct or anachronism--someone who does believe that He heals, and puts no fetters on His mighty power.